Very interesting image. It does look like a larva with large jaws latched onto the fry's gill plate, but it may not be the case. Unusual colors. A terrestrial insect would have a difficult time latching onto a fish from below. To my knowledge, caddis fly do not tend to feed on fish and are very slow. There does appear to be an area broken off the outer covering and the material is very uniform and smooth as would be expected with plastic. Perhaps one clue was: what happened next? If it was plastic or metal, the dipper would have shaken it off the fish and not eaten it. If it was a larva, it likely would have eaten it.


So, did you see what happened next?


Neat image, what ever it was.


Dan Reiff


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Paulson" <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
To: "Rob Conway" <robin_birder at hotmail.com>
Cc: "<tweeters at u.washington.edu>" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 6:05:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] RE: Larva unknown can anyone tell me what it is with American Dipper


Rob,


It's not a dragonfly larva. In fact, it looks like nothing I have ever seen in the natural world. I have the feeling it is a human-made object. But what?


Dennis

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 22, 2012, at 2:20 PM, Rob Conway < robin_birder at hotmail.com > wrote:






Dragonfly larvae/nymph (Gomphidae?). They can be huge, aggressive, and pack quite a bite. Maybe Dennis Paulson can confirm?


Rob Conway
SW Portland
45.46?N 122.68?W (Elev. 473ft)
robin_birder at hotmail.com







From: mcallisters4 at comcast.net
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2012 08:25:11 -0700
Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Larva unknown can anyone tell me what it is with American Dipper




Some kind of caddis fly larva with extra large, pinching mouth parts? If it is a caddis fly larva, I?m not sure what it?s built its home out of but I?ve never seen anything like it.



Kelly McAllister





From: Bill Anderson [mailto:billandersonbic at yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2012 11:39 PM
To: Kelly McAllister; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Larva unknown can anyone tell me what it is with American Dipper





Is it a fishing lure?







Bill Anderson; Edmonds, WA. USA


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